Dear Pot Lawyer,
Why is it so hard for canna-businesses to get a bank account?
In one of my recent columns, I mentioned that banking is still one of the biggest obstacles for Oregon canna-businesses, but I didn’t go into much detail about why.
Unsurprisingly, the story begins with federal law. The official federal policy is still that cannabis has no accepted medical use and is as dangerous as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. However, as states began to legalize medical use en masse, the Department of Justice under President Obama found itself in a bind: How can the federal policy be that cannabis has no accepted medical use when state after state was officially recognizing the exact opposite? This led to the infamous Cole Memo, which provided guidance to federal prosecutors for cannabis enforcement. The memo outlined the DOJ’s enforcement priorities, such as preventing access to minors, and preventing violence and illegal activity.